FIELD OF INVENTION
The processes and apparatuses of the present invention are to be used in separating a mass of purified volatile solvent from a dilute solution of the solvent. Some typical applications are as follows:
(1) Purification of Chemicals
The purity of a chemical often has a profound effect on the quality of end products manufactured from it. The functional property of polymers, the pharmacological effect of drugs, the clarity and transmissibility of optical fibers, the sensibility of analytical assays and the reliability of semiconductor chips all depend on the purity of the chemicals used. The process can be used for separating purified major components from mixtures containing low levels of impurities. Therefore, the process can be used for producing specialty and fine chemicals and high purity bulk chemicals.
(2) Water Pollution Prevention
Many types of polluted water streams are dilute aqueous solutions which may contain dissolved and/or suspended organic substances. The present process can be used to recover purified water for reuse and produce a mass of concentrated waste water to facilitate disposed and/or value recovery. Examples are low level nuclear waste waters, hospital waste waters, cooling tower blow-down streams, contaminated ground water and leachates, oil/water mixtures and organic chemicals wastewater.
(3) Production of Good Quality Water
Water supplies in many parts of the world are contaminated. The present process can be used to produce high quality water from these dilute contaminated water streams. Good quality drinking water can be produced by the present process.